Dea Birkett
Dea is Director of CultureKids Ireland, working with arts and heritage organisations to better welcome and include families, young people and children.
Dea was Founder and Director of Kids in Museums, the UK-wide organisation working with museums, galleries and heritage sites to make them more welcoming of children and families. In this role she established the Family Friendly Museum Award, the largest museum award in Britain. She also developed and ran Takeover Day – a day on which young people are given meaningful, powerful roles in museums. It grew to be the biggest initiative ever with young people in museums in the UK.
Dea is also a practising journalist. She is Creative Director of ManyRiversFilms, a BAFTA-winning film company, making challenging dramas and documentaries. She is author of seven books including Serpent in Paradise and Off the Beaten Track: Three Centuries of Women Travellers. She is a contributor to the Guardian, Mail on Sunday and a wide range of publications, as well as a regular commentator for the BBC and Irish radio stations. Dea was educated in Scotland and America. She has a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in African History.
Rebecca Mileham
Rebecca Mileham is a museum interpretation consultant and writer specialising in science, technology, heritage and culture. Her latest book is Cracking the Elements, revealing tales of intrigue behind the 118 elements in the periodic table. She has a BSc in Physics and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College.
She began her career at the Science Museum in London, developing exhibitions for ten years and helping to create the landmark Wellcome Wing project. Since 2006 Rebecca has built a freelance portfolio, delivering interpretation for galleries and displays around the world on a huge range of topics, and offering consultancy and training. Her text has appeared in museums and exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Malta, Kuwait, Egypt, Brazil, the USA, and across the UK where she works with national organisations including the National Trust and English Heritage. She is current chair of Banbury Museum Trust.
Rebecca also works as a scriptwriter and voice artist, and spends any free time singing.